Holland Park

I came here to see Bruce Cockburn. It is small with large potential for outdoor shows in Surrey as it is close to the King George train station. Sound is hit and miss but this could be the new alternative outdoor concert venue for shows. Oddly I haven’t seen another major show here since Mumford & Sons last year.

Even though I don’t live in Surrey, I tend to drive past this place a lot. I used to live about a block away growing up and it is much, much nicer now. Back then it was forest and I think I just aged myself. Anyway, this past weekend Mumford & Sons were playing here and at first I was very sceptical. Especially since Surrey is not known for being very «clean», yes let’s use that word.
Somehow they managed to squeeze in 25,000 people of all ages and although the set up was a bit awkward (beer gardens on either side and only way to get through from one side of the venue to the other was through the crowed beer garden lines) it was manageable for the most part.
There was also the issue of where the stage was set up and the sun setting. If you were too far back you couldn’t see the stage because the sun was in your eyes so everyone was crammed together at one point prior to the sun setting.
While writing this I did change my star rating from a 4 to a 3 as the only reason it would have gotten a 4 was because of who was playing. I love me some M&S, the rest of the set up wasn’t all that great to be honest. I like that it’s closer to home than downtown but the organizers need to set up better so there is better flow.
I will be back if there is something I would like to see there but I honestly wouldn’t go out of my way to just go there.